Indians snag No. 4 seed in football playoffs

Cobre quarterback Andru Sanchez waits for the play call during rivalry action against Silver earlier this week. The Indians tallied a No. 4 seed in the state playoffs and will have a first-round bye.(Photo: Danny Udero/Sun-News)Buy Photo

BAYARD — Being a top four seed means Cobre High School will receive a first round bye. But, the downside is they could face five seed Hatch Valley in the second round of the Class 4A New Mexico High School Football Championships.

Robertson (10-0) got the No. 1 seed. Portales (9-1) was seeded second, while Moriarity (9-1) took the third spot. The Indians are 6-4 overall.

“After the Hatch game, I talked to their coaches and they were very gracious losers,” head coach Jerry Martinez said. “It was a great game and I told them we are going to see each other in the playoffs. They are a solid ball club.”

Cobre ran the table in district and finished undefeated after beating Socorro, 39-30, in a wild game on Friday. The Indians had to come from behind in that game, as well as against Silver. Cobre was able to hang on to defeat Hatch (the defending Class 4A state champs) on the road.

“I can honestly see where the committee is looking at on this one,” Martinez said. “Robertson and Portales are obvious. My argument is that we played a much tougher schedule than Moriarity and all of 4A. We had more quality wins. But, to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

After sitting at home for a week, Cobre will face the winner of the No. 5 Hatch Valley and No. 12 New Mexico Military Institute match-up.

“We have two weeks to prepare for Hatch,” Martinez said. “Nothing against NMMI, but we will be prepared for Hatch.”

Martinez said the first-round bye will help them get as healthy as they can, and seeing Hatch another time will be tough.

“It’s hard to beat any good team twice in a row,” Martinez said. “But, the year we went to the state playoffs, we beat them twice. We hope to continue firing on all cylinders. Our coaches and kids have done a good job preparing this team for district and now the playoffs.

We knew what we had and we knew the potential was there,” Martinez added. “We want to thank everyone who didn’t turn against us when we were 1-4.”